African American Male Youth Research Articles

Beyond monolithic threat: Understanding risk typology in court-involved Black male youth

Black male youth are at greatest risk of disparate contact and detention in the U.S. juvenile justice system. This study aims to identify recidivism risk/need patterns among African American male youth in the Ohio juvenile justice system, utilizing cluster analysis of risk assessment data from the Ohio Youth Assessment System-Disposition (OYAS-DIS). We found four distinct risk patterns and accompanying recidivism rates in the Black male youth population. Two of the clusters exhibited moderate levels of risk. However, they had significantly different recidivism outcomes, suggesting certain combinations of risk factors have more or less impact the propensity for crime in the Black male sample. Implications for policy and practice are discussed, as well as future directions for research.

Examining Longitudinal Associations Between Future Orientation and Multiple Forms of Youth Violence Perpetration

PurposeFuture orientation, defined as hopes and aspirations for the future, is gaining promise as a cross-cutting protective factor against youth violence. This study assessed how future orientation longitudinally predicted multiple forms of violence perpetration among minoritized male youth in neighborhoods made vulnerable by concentrated disadvantage. MethodsData were drawn from a sexual violence (SV) prevention trial among 817 predominately African American male youth, ages 13 to 19, residing in neighborhoods disproportionately impacted by community violence. We used latent class analysis to create baseline future orientation profiles of participants. Mixed effects models examined how future orientation classes predicted multiple forms of violence perpetration (i.e., weapon violence, bullying, sexual harassment, non-partner SV, and intimate partner SV) at 9-month follow-up. ResultsLatent class analysis yielded four classes, with nearly 80% of youth belonging to moderately high and high future orientation classes. We found significant overall associations between latent class and weapon violence, bullying, sexual harassment, non-partner SV, and SV (all p < .01). While patterns of association differed across each type of violence, violence perpetration was consistently highest among youth in the low-moderate future orientation class. Compared to youth in the low future orientation class, youth in the low-moderate class had higher odds of bullying (odds ratio 3.51, 95% confidence interval: 1.56–7.91) and sexual harassment perpetration (odds ratio 3.44, 95% confidence interval: 1.49–7.94). DiscussionThe longitudinal relationship between future orientation and youth violence may not be linear. Greater attention to nuanced patterns of future orientation may better inform interventions seeking to harness this protective factor to reduce youth violence.

The De-Gentrification of New Markets Tax Credits

"I am concerned and I am frustrated because I don't know what the alternates are...It clearly isn't racist; its economics. The real question you have to ask yourself is: Is this good orbad?"-Norman Rice, former Mayor of Seattle, On gentrification in that cityUrban America is in a state of crisis. A huge pool of America's resources is increasingly disconnected from mainstream society. That pool is within the core of major cities and particularly includes African American and Hispanic male youth. By way of illustration, more than half of all core city African American men do not finish high school. The correlation between drop-out rates, unemployment, and incarceration is profound. As of 2004, 72% of African American dropouts who are in their 20's are unemployed, up from 65% in 2000.s Incarceration levels are at historic highs and increasing, where by their mid-30's, 6 in 10 of these high school drop outs have spent time in prison. That rate is four times higher than that of Black men in South Africa under the apartheid regime. Seventy-five percent of African American males incarcerated in Baltimore Maryland did not graduate from high school. The infant mortality rate among all African Americans is more than twice the national average, and is much worse among the poor in the core of urban America. After the Katrina floodwatershave receded, some see an opportunity to buy low and sell high. But themuted voices of the poor cry to keep what they had.' For them it was aKatrina moment. For the urban core poor across the nation, it has been aKatrina erosion over the decades from a series of unnatural disasters.

Evaluation of an After-School Program for African-American and Hispanic Male Youth: Please Call Me Mister

Evaluation of an After-School Program for African-American and Hispanic Male Youth: Please Call Me Mister

Exploring African American Male Youth’s Perceptions of Community Involvement Through 4-H Programs

Civic engagement research suggests that youths’ involvement in their communities results in a number of positive personal and social attributes. However, among urban populations, there is still a dearth of research on their involvement and the impact of civic participation on their development. More importantly within these populations, there is limited understanding of how Black male youth engage within civic participatory spaces. Increasing but limited research on young Black male youth usually focuses on identity, participation in programs, and socioeconomic levels. Further understanding is needed as to the factors which influence and impact Black male youths’ interests and actual participation in community and extracurricular activities. This paper explores data from urban African American high school male youth that include their perceptions and knowledge and attitudes toward being involved in their community through 4-H youth programs. The authors find that opportunities to learn a new skill and building professional portfolios assist these young Black males in their perception of being effective in their communities and making a difference for themselves.

The Formation and Benefits of Natural Mentoring for African American Sexual and Gender Minority Adolescents: A Qualitative Study

This study explored how mentoring begins and the benefits provided for African American sexual and/or gender minority (SGM) youth. Participants were mentors and mentees living in three Mid-Atlantic cities. Mentees (ages 15–21, n = 14) identified as African American; cisgender male, transgender female, or non-binary assigned male; and had sexual interest in men. Mentor participants (ages 18+, n = 13) mentored such youth. Qualitative in-depth interviews were conducted with mentoring relationship partners (both partners did not necessarily participate). All interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, and imported into Atlas.ti. Using a basic interpretive qualitative analysis, a codebook was developed through inductive and deductive techniques. Analysis focused on mentees’ and mentors’ descriptions and interpretations about how they formed a mentoring relationship and any observed benefits that arose. Themes showed mentoring relationships were formed through introductions via social circles or social media. Mentoring was described as providing a trusted confidant and support with identity formation, relationships, transitioning to adulthood, and health. Results indicate a potential for natural mentoring relationships to provide trusted adult support to SGM adolescents in ways that are experienced as authentic and beneficial to the mental health of African American SGM male youth.

Critical Race Theory, Wrongful Convictions and Disparate Exonerations of Minority and White Youths in the United States

Race is central to every aspect of the criminal justice system in the United States. According to the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), in 2013, black males accounted for 37 percent of the total male prison population in the United States with white males accounting for only 32 percent followed by Hispanic males at 22 percent respectively. In the general population, however, Black males comprise only 6 percent of the total males population while White males constitute 31 percent of the total males population in the U.S. followed by Hispanic males who make up 8.4 percent of the total male population. The conviction of innocent defendants is quite disturbing regardless of race or ethnicity. Nothing is more glaring of this phenomenon than when one considers that African American males make up only 6 percent of the total males population but are reported as committing 52 percent of the murders. It is widely known that the lack of formal processes and constitutional due process in the juvenile justice system and the potential for substantial deprivations of children’s liberty through extensive periods of incarceration has been pervasive, persistent, and ongoing in this country (Juvenile Justice Center, 2020). Critical Race Theory has done nothing less than shed more light on the predictability of youth treatment landing them behind bars for lengthy prison sentences for crimes in which they frequently did not commit. Critical Race Theory falls short, however, of offering any plausible explanations for why so many minority youths are falsely imprisoned. Other theories must be considered as plausible explanations for this phenomenon of disparate treatment between the races whether it be police shooting, disparate convictions and incarceration or racial profiling. These theories include Racial Conflict Theory, Racial Threat Theory and Petit Apartheid Theory. The core idea of Critical Race Theory is that racism does not stop at the individua level, but it is systemic or system-wide and ingrained in our policies, in our legal systems and institutions. Critical Race Theory has absolutely nothing to do with “punishing kids for their skin color or making young white kids feel guilty for being white no more than critical thinking is criticizing someone for well thinking. Critical Race Theory is a dialogue for raising awareness of policies and practices that have had a disproportionately negative impact on racial minorities in particular and youth in general irrespective of race. There were 2,310 people serving life-without-parole sentences for crimes committed as juveniles (known as JLWOP) at the end of 2016. This study examines the data extracted from the national registry of exonerations in the United States on every known exoneration from 1989 to 2020. Contributing factors to such disparate convictions among young African American males such as false confessions, mistaken identity, false accusations, witness tampering, perjury or false statements under oath particularly by police officers, prosecutorial misconduct, inadequate legal defense, and mistaken witness identification are highlighted and discussed as major contributing factors to the exoneree’s eventual release. This study assumes the position that, although all lives matter, it appears that African American Male Youths are more disproportionate among the population of those exonerated for crimes that they did not commit. The study proffers policy implications and policy changes that appear to be viable solutions to this egregious and tragic abuse of humankind.

Risk and protective family factors during childhood on youth violence among African American males: The role of mothers and nonresident fathers.

African American male youth experience disproportionately higher levels of violence. We examined parental depression among African American mothers and nonresident fathers on parenting stress and school involvement in their adolescent sons' school connectedness and violent behaviors. Using a longitudinal study design, parent factors were assessed when sons were 9 years old on youth outcomes at age 15. We found that maternal depression was associated with maternal stress, and maternal stress was indirectly associated with sons' violent behaviors through school connectedness. School involvement among nonresident fathers was positively associated with sons' school connectedness, which was linked to less youth violent behaviors. Maternal stress and nonresident fathers' school involvement are influential for understanding youth violence. Future interventions should incorporate a more nuanced approach when including family factors.

African American and Latino Male Youth: Perceived Strengths in Career Exploration

African American and Latino Male Youth: Perceived Strengths in Career Exploration

Route Choices and Adolescent-Adult Connections in Mitigating Exposure to Environmental Risk Factors During Daily Activities.

While adolescent-adult connections have been shown to be protective against violence perpetration and victimization, mechanisms through which these connections confer protection from violence are poorly understood. We assessed whether adolescent-adult connections protected youth in lower resource urban neighborhoods from exposure to environmental risk factors for violence during daily activities. We overlaid on the city landscape minute-by-minute activity paths from 274 randomly sampled predominantly African American male youth, ages 10 to 24, enrolled in a population-based study of daily activities in Philadelphia, PA, to calculate environmental exposures and to compare exposures along actual versus shortest potential travel routes. Adolescent-adult connections were defined using brief survey questions and detailed family genograms. Analyses demonstrated that youth's selected travel routes resulted in significantly lower exposure to several types of crime, including vandalism, narcotics arrests, and disorderly conduct, than would have occurred on shortest potential routes. On average, youth with adolescent-adult connections spent less time outdoors than youth without connections, although these differences did not reach statistical significance (p = .06). There were no significant differences in environmental risk factors encountered by youth with versus without adolescent-adult connections. Future mixed-methods research combining qualitative and geographic information systems (GIS) approaches should investigate which factors shape travel decisions during daily activities to guide multimodal violence prevention interventions.

Relationship Repertoires, the Price of Parenthood, and the Costs of Contraception

Drawing on 150 in-depth interviews with African American male and female youth who have spent much of their lives in neighborhoods of concentrated poverty, we explore the structural and cultural underpinnings of the elevated rate of unplanned childbearing among disadvantaged youth. We find that gender asymmetry in perceived opportunity costs, shared social meanings associated with condom use, and perceptions of health risk associated with hormonal and other female forms of birth control such as intrauterine devices—perceptions that may be rooted in a generalized distrust of the medical establishment—are promising explanations not usually considered in the literature on unintended fertility. These findings offer additional insight into how disadvantaged youth calculate the opportunity costs of childbearing and raise additional considerations for policies surrounding family planning and reproduction in the context of urban poverty.

Strategies for 4-H Program Planning and Recruitment Relative to African American Male Youths

Extension educators often seek new strategies for engaging minority youths in 4-H programs, especially young Black males. These strategies require programming developed in response to the context of this population. We offer insights into the social context of Black males and offer suggestions that will help educators develop identity and integrative site-based programs for this population.

A Longitudinal Examination of Parenting Influences and School Engagement among African American and Latino Male Youth

Some racial minority males lag behind their White counterparts with regards to school engagement. However, few studies have examined this association longitudinally nor explored whether such a relationship might be mediated by youths’ own educational aspirations. Therefore, both considerations are addressed in this study. Among a sample of 226 African American and Latino male youth and their caregivers, measures were assessed for parenting influences (i.e., monitoring, discipline, educational, economic and life aspirations), youth educational aspirations, and school engagement (i.e., motivation and attainment). Parents’ education and life aspirations for their sons and the youths’ educational attainment were positively and significantly related. Moreover, the relationship between parents’ educational and life aspirations and academic engagement (i.e., school motivation and educational attainment) were mediated by youths’ educational aspirations. Implications for promoting the school engagement of these youth are discussed based on these findings.

Exploring African-American and Latino Teens' Perceptions of Contraception and Access to Reproductive Health Care Services

PurposeReducing disparities in teen pregnancy and birth rates among African American and Latina teens is a central focus of a community-wide teen pregnancy prevention initiative implemented by the South Carolina Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. Disparities in teen pregnancy and birth rates are driven, in part, by differential access to contraception and reproductive health care services. The purpose of this qualitative study was to understand African American and Latino teens' 1) preferences for finding health information, 2) perceptions of accessing reproductive health services, and 3) beliefs about contraception. MethodsAs a part of this community-wide initiative, eight focus groups were conducted in the Fall of 2012 with African American and Latino male and female youth from two communities in South Carolina. Among eight focus groups of youth, teens most often reported parents, other trusted relatives, and the Internet as sources of health information. ResultsParticipants discussed the value of social media and television advertisements for reaching young people and emphasized the importance of privacy, a desire for a teen-only clinic, and the need for friendly clinical staff. Participants' comments often reflected inaccurate beliefs about the reliability and correct usage of contraceptive methods. Female participants also reported side effects of birth control as a potential barrier to use. ConclusionsEnsuring that teens' beliefs and perceptions are taken into account when developing, marketing, and implementing culturally competent reproductive health care services is important to improve access to care for all teens in Horry and Spartanburg Counties.

African American rites of passage interventions: A vehicle for utilizing African American male elders

ABSTRACTThere is a dearth of information regarding African American males and their service to boys as unrelated, concerned adults. While rites of passage programs provide a strong space for the growth of young Black males to develop, there is a need for more literature on what motivates and how to recruit and retain African American men to mentor. This article discusses central components of traditional mentoring and rites of passage programs and the experiences of a group of African American men in Memphis, Tennessee, who have mentored for an after-school rites of passage project. The authors provide recommendations for recruiting and training African American men to utilize rites of passage activities to promote the healthy development of African American male youth.

The Effects of Single-sex Mathematics Classrooms on African-American Males in the Ninth Grade

High dropout rates and poor academic performance are frequent characteristics of the educational experience for African-American male youths (Bailey &amp; Paisley, 2004). With increased accountability standards to raise the academic achievement levels, single-sex educational environments have taken a central role in school reform agendas and initiatives in many school districts (Herr &amp; Arms, 2004). The incorporation of a single-sex grouping served as a conduit for teachers to deliver instruction based on the varied learning styles of the students.This study was designed to determine the effect single-sex classroom instruction has on African American males’ achievement in ninth-grade mathematics compared to that of the other student groups. The researcher investigated a public school in a North Texas school district that offered alternative educational options for the students. Single-sex classrooms were created in mathematics. Teachers taught single-sex classes of students from varied ethnic backgrounds during at least one double-blocked period each day. Ex post facto data were analyzed. An independent samples t-test and a two-way factorial Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) were utilized to test each hypothesis to determine whether significant differences existed in the scale scores of comparison groups on state-mandated assessments over a period of 3 years. The instrument used to measure academic achievement is the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills.This study found that the mathematics scores of African American males in single-sex classes did not significantly differ from the scores of African American males in coeducational classes. The scores for the males in single-sex classes were slightly higher than that of males in coeducational classes at each grade level throughout the 3-year period. The mathematics scores of African American females in single-sex learning environments were not significantly different than those of African American males in single-sex classes. The scores for the female students were consistently higher throughout the 3-year period. This study identified the need for single-sex instructional opportunities for students as a means of eliminating the achievement gap.

Kevin Roy and Nikki Jones (Eds): Pathways to Adulthood for Disconnected Young Men in Low-Income Communities for Child and Adolescent Development: New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development, Number 143

Pathways to Adulthood for Disconnected Young Men in Low-Income Communities, is an edited collection comprised of various studies performed to expose the unique struggles experienced by young disadvantaged men from urban and nonurban communities. The authors of each chapter present one of the unique struggles these young disadvantaged men of racially and ethnically diverse backgrounds experience in comparison to more typical adolescent experiences. Through this, their documented experiences provide a closer examination of how the process of entering adulthood can vary for individuals. Collectively, it is agreed that their individual set of circumstances influence these young men’s experiences significantly. However, each chapter evaluates a distinctive circumstance to come to this conclusion. This book’s purpose is to educate the reader on the extreme importance of healthy transition into adulthood for any adolescent, but specifically how this is an especially difficult task for the young men presented in the varying studies. This book succeeds in being an important evaluation of less known adolescent experiences that could attract the interests of scholars in the field as well as those new to adolescent studies in general. The book is successful in doing so as the theories discussed and the evidence examined offer a compelling argument. The book persuasively supports its claim that these experiences shape these young men and effectively hinder their ability to enter adulthood in ways that others might deem natural. Chapter 1, entitled ‘‘Theorizing Alternative Pathways through Adulthood: Unequal Social Arrangements in the Lives of Young Disadvantaged Men,’’ introduces the goal of the book and sets the stage for the following four chapters. Due to the research focusing solely on young disadvantaged men, it becomes clear that their distinctive interactions with their community, family, peers and law enforcement help determine the ease of their transition into adulthood. The goal is then to enlighten the reader of these intervening factors at play and how proper knowledge of these situations could help create interventions to help these young men. All adolescents are expected to transition into adulthood in a very uniform manner. However, as the book showcases, this expectation disregards diversity among adolescents. To ignore diversity and the variability of adolescent experiences can be a key reason why these young men are continuously disadvantaged. The book presents some of the reasons why these young men have even greater difficulty properly emerging into adulthood. The following chapters sustain the goal of representing young disadvantaged men’s experiences as critical examples of the nonlinear transition into adulthood and the practice of recognizing their diverse experiences as important for proper intervention and support. This introductory chapter successfully provides proper contextual information about the entirety of the book. The introduction to the studies presented in each chapter of the book allows the reader to understand the purpose of the book as well as its significance. Chapter 2, ‘‘Taking Boys Out of the Hood: Exile as a Parenting Strategy for African American Male Youth,’’ examines the challenges that parents of young adolescents face when they are living in low-income neighborhoods. The challenges faced by these parents are shown to directly affect their children’s development. As the authors show, parents in these high-crime neighborhoods have a difficult time finding supportive environments for their children’s & Jensen Lynch jenslync@indiana.edu

Pathways from Racial Discrimination to Multiple Sexual Partners Among Male African American Adolescents.

African American male adolescents' involvement with multiple sexual partners has important implications for public health as well as for their development of ideas regarding masculinity and sexuality. The purpose of this study was to test hypotheses regarding the pathways through which racial discrimination affects African American adolescents' involvement with multiple sexual partners. We hypothesized that racial discrimination would engender psychological distress, which would promote attitudes and peer affiliations conducive to multiple sexual partnerships. The study also examined the protective influence of parenting practices in buffering the influence of contextual stressors. Participants were 221 African American male youth who provided data at ages 16 and 18; their parents provided data on family socioeconomic disadvantages. Of these young men, 18.5% reported having 3 or more sexual partners during the past 3 months. Structural equation models indicated that racial discrimination contributed to sexual activity with multiple partners by inducing psychological distress, which in turn affected attitudes and peer affiliations conducive to multiple partners. The experience of protective parenting, which included racial socialization, closeness and harmony in parent-child relationships, and parental monitoring, buffered the influence of racial discrimination on psychological distress. These findings suggest targets for prevention programming and underscore the importance of efforts to reduce young men's experience with racial discrimination.

Professional Resources

AbstractIn educational research, policies and practices, African American male youth are often portrayed as a monolithic demographic of uneducable, criminalized, deviant students. This column reviews the works of two African American male scholars, Tyrone D. Howard's (2014) Black Male(d) and David E. Kirkland's (2013) A Search Past Silence, focused on disrupting the stereotypes projected onto Black male youth and placing their lives at promise.

Umoja: A Culturally Specific Approach to Mentoring Young African American Males

This article reports that urban inner-city African American male youth residing in communities of color are at-risk and warrant interventions custom tailored to meet their unique cultural needs. This article describes a promising community and school-based intervention and prevention program utilizing Washington’s (J Soc Work Gr 2006:14, 2007) pyramid mentoring model designed to foster the positive development of this group, prevent violence, and to reduce contacts with the juvenile and criminal justice system. It discusses and presents African drumming, Spir-rhythms as a Afrocentric cultural arts tool to engage, establish rapport, and provide pyramid group mentoring experiences for African American male youth.